Thomas Earl Vail, age 21, from Janesville, Wisconsin, Rock county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Janesville High (1967)
Date of death: Sunday, July 19, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam while driving a vehicle on a mission.
Source: National Archives, Wisconsin State Journal (1970)
Alvin Leonard Halverson, age 40, from Janesville, Wisconsin, Rock county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, February 10, 1970
Death details: Died in Vietnam after a heart attack.
Source: National Archives, Wisconsin State Journal (1970)
Donald William Downing, age 33, from Janesville, Wisconsin, Rock county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, September 5, 1967
Death details: On September 5, 1967, an F-4C Phantom II (tail number 63-7547, call sign “Sharkbait 42”) carrying two crew members took off as wingman in a flight of two on a nighttime armed reconnaissance mission against enemy targets in Quang Binh Province, North Vietnam. During the mission, the aircraft was flying in the trailing position when its pilot informed the flight leader that he would follow in an attack run. This was the last radio contact with this aircraft; it occurred in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q YE 021 007. Shortly after turning toward the target, the flight leader observed a large fireball in the air, descending towards the ground. Attempts to contact “Sharkbait 42” by radio failed, and no parachutes were seen or rescue beepers detected. Search efforts failed to locate the aircraft or its two crew members. Captain Donald William Downing entered the U.S. Air Force from Wisconsin and was a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 12th Tactical Fighter Wing. He was the aircraft commander aboard this Phantom when it went down, and he was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. After the incident, the U.S. Air Force promoted Capt Downing to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol). Today, Lieutenant Colonel Downing is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Arnold M. Steen, age 23, from Janesville, Wisconsin, Rock county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, June 21, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Technician Fifth Grade Arnold M. Steen entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with the 192nd Tank Battalion in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria on June 21, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Technician Fifth Grade Steen is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Herman W. Gentz, age 22, from Rock County Janesville, Wisconsin .
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Friday, October 25, 1918
Death details: Died of disease
Source: Soldiers of the Great War